Norwich 0 - Fulham 0: Luciano Becchio fails to shine on debut

THE three points were there for the taking for both teams – but neither side was good enough.

Norwich probably edged a disappointing, defence-dominated encounter but in the end both managers seemed happy to settle for a point long before the final whistle.

Carrow Road staged its very own episode of Casualty before kick-off, with both teams forced to make last-minute changes to their starting line-ups because of illness and injury.

Norwich skipper Grant Holt hurt his back on the morning of the match and was forced to pull out, with new £3million signing Luciano Becchio drafted in for his debut.

We were hoping for a good start but Berbatov was hurt early on when he took a blow in the face. The first thing he said to us on the touchline was ‘am I still handsome?’

Fulham boss Martin Jol

Fulham, meanwhile, were hit by a bug that swept through their hotel on the eve of the encounter with on-loan German right-back Sascha Riether and defensive midfielder Chris Baird both sent home after falling sick.

That meant boss Martin Jol had to hand a first start to Bulgarian defender Stanislav Manolev, with yet another loan player, Arsenal’s Emmanuel Frimpong, taking over in the Cottagers’ engine room.

Then Fulham striker Dimitar Berbatov went down in the first minute with blood pouring from his nose after accidentally being caught by the flailing arm of Canaries midfielder Bradley Johnson. Norwich manager Chris Hughton, who is taking his team off to Abu Dhabi today for a four-day sunshine break, said: “Becchio worked hard but just didn’t get the bounce of the ball. But if we can get the service to him in the box then he will score goals.

“But it’s another good point for us.”

Fulham boss Jol said: “We were hoping for a good start but Berbatov was hurt early on when he took a blow in the face. The first thing he said to us on the touchline was ‘am I still handsome?’

“But I would change that rule. Berbatov was hit in the head and had to go off for five minutes while Norwich still got to play with 11.

“So their player should have to go off as well and we should play ten against ten.”